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New England's Culture Magazine

Artscope Magazine | January/February 2021

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Museum of Russian Icons

MYTHOLOGIZING AND ROMANTICIZING: SERGEI DIAGHILEV’S REVOLUTIONARY BALLET COMPANY BROUGHT TO LIFE

// Current Issue, Issue Articles, January/February 2020

by Beth Neville

What a wonderful day of discovery! On a cold and dreary November day to find a new (for me) museum, a new artist and a new town with good restaurants! The Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, Massachusetts, opened in 2006, is exhibiting the marvelous photographs of Emil Otto Hoppé (British, 1878-1972) of the Ballets Russes. The exhibition is sponsored by Artscope Magazine. Hoppé, one of the most famous photographers of his day, had exclusive access to Ballets Russes, the revolutionary ballet company founded by Sergei Diaghilev in Paris, France (1909-1929). Hoppé’s 73 ballet photographs provide an eye-popping view into the balletic revolution that moved away from 19th century heavily costumed, stylized, drama-ballets to the modernism of “The Rite of Spring,” “The Firebird,” “Petrushka,” “Le Carnaval” and others. What a sensation Diaghilev and his company caused; offended patrons rioted … [Read more...] about MYTHOLOGIZING AND ROMANTICIZING: SERGEI DIAGHILEV’S REVOLUTIONARY BALLET COMPANY BROUGHT TO LIFE

Bear and man wooden toy.

Tinsel Time in Clinton: Russia’s Holiday Icons Show Our Similarities

// Issue Articles, November/December 2018

by Brian Goslow

While the post-Cold War 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union brought the promise of closer relations and great cultural exchange between the United States and “Mother Russia,” recent political tensions between the two countries suggest the divide still exists, possible deeper than before. Two shows running this holiday season at the Museum of Russian Icons have the goal of serving to show visitors that even when the Space Age and threat of Nuclear War cast us as arch enemies, our holiday traditions suggested that our similarities were much greater than our leaders may have wanted us to believe. Curator Laura Garrity-Arquitt said the museum had wanted to present a show of Soviet holiday ornaments for some time but had “the worst luck finding a collection or exhibit available nearby where it would fit in our budget.” Enter collector Frank Sciacca, who had loaned the museum many of … [Read more...] about Tinsel Time in Clinton: Russia’s Holiday Icons Show Our Similarities